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2010 RT Fuel Gauge Problem

28K views 58 replies 37 participants last post by  gary7569 
#1 ·
Just so everyone knows, I've had numerous BMWs over the years, mostly boxers, and I know that fuel gauge problems are not uncommon, at least I've had some on my bikes, most recently my 2009 GS. Nothing that bad, but my new RT has what seems a more serious issue.

I left on a ride today with 329 miles on odometer. Gauge showed full less 1 bar (which I knew was optimistic as I already had about 125 miles on the tank since last fill up). Approx. 25 miles into the ride, gauge suddenly shows empty, no bars showing, yellow warning light displayed. Range on BC shows 192 miles(!). Checked trip A odo, which I reset every fill up, and it showed 149.1 miles. Range began dropping 1 mile every few seconds. At 162 miles, range registered 0, gauge still empty. Filled up at 172.1 on Trip A. Tank took 4.026 gallons. Reset Trip A, master odometer reads 397.4. Ride home, 1.6 miles, but yellow warning light remains on, gauge reads empty, range shows 0.

I will deal with this at the first service, but anyone else experience anything like this?

Thanks in advance for any insight.
 
#2 ·
Same here. Very irratic. BMW has sent out new download for the guage. Process involves removal of the fuel strip, clean it, let it dry, re-program, re-install. Everything should be ok thereafter.... so I'm told. I have a service scheduled for next week.
 
#3 ·
I suspect I'll get the same thing at my first service, so we'll see. I realize I can rely on the trip odometer, but it's pretty annoying for a $20k bike seeing the big yellow triangle halfway through a tank and looking at a completely empty gauge. As they say, we can put a man on the moon....

I hope it will get fixed as my son and I are doing a 3000 mile trip in late Sept. I'm a couple of weeks away from getting it in for service, but will post the results.
 
#4 ·
I've had my fuel sensor replaced on my '10 RT for the same reason you're seeing. The guage showed no gas on a full tank. Fortunately the dealer has done a number of these and had the part in stock.

Now my guage shows about 7/8 full when the tank is topped off. This little amount of inaccuracy is annoying but I just compensate.
 
#5 ·
Got my second one replaced last week at 3200 miles. Here's the part number of the strip-
16 14 7 675 547. Same as far back as at least 2005 model. WHEN mine fails again, I'm going to start contacting BMW and stick a decal over the yellow light until it's fixed.
Dealer says all they can do is keep replacing the high failure rate sensing strip
A day off from work, 300 miles round trip, and couple hours standing around the showroom floor to keep cool is a PITA. Wonder if enough folks participate if this could be a class action thingy? Any lawyer type riders out there?
 
#6 ·
Flash62, good info. I could live with the same solution, no problem. I think I'll give my dealer a heads up before my 600 mi service to ensure they have the part.
 
#7 ·
My gauge went south yesterday. Filled up rode 150 miles gauge didn't move. Computer said I still had 345 miles left on the tank. Filled up again for the trip home no change. Called the BMW dealer said it was a common problem and they had the fuel strip in stock . Told them I would have it fixed during the 6000K service. I have owned the bike for 3 month and currently have 3500K on it. By the way I also found a small oil leak on the rear of the right cylinder head.
 
#8 ·
Had mine at the dealer for this problem as well,Mine was the first 2010 in for this.I was at the dealer from 830a til 300p as was wondering why it was taking so long Service manager came out and said there was a recall on the cam sensors as well.I has not known about that at all.
 
#9 ·
since Bmw is saying all they can do is keep replacing them, make sure that if the the problem keeps on until the warranty is up, they will continue to replace them free!!! Now it is an inconvenience, but how much worse will it be when you have to pay for it!
 
#10 ·
timbotc said:
since Bmw is saying all they can do is keep replacing them, make sure that if the the problem keeps on until the warranty is up, they will continue to replace them free!!! Now it is an inconvenience, but how much worse will it be when you have to pay for it!
I also wonder what the dealer will do if this problem continues. I don't think I should have to pay for a design flaw. I hope the dealer / BMW will do the right thing IF it's comes to that.

I had the same issue with my fuel strip. My dealer said there was a recall for the fuel strip because some of them had been put in backwards. Mine was not backwards but it was out of the holder it's supposed to be in. I took it home and hoped for the best. The next time I got gas. The gauge quit working completely. No bars no distance to empty. I took it back to the dealer the next week and they put in a new strip. Since then it has been spot on. The fuel level and mileage have both been adding up.

The 2010 has a 7.1 gal. tank so if your gauge is a quater of a tank you should put in approx. 5.3 gallons of gas.
 
#11 ·
I'm taking my 2010 in for its 600 mi service, and replacing the fuel strip. I'll report the outcome when I pick up the bike next weekend. I guess I should also check about the recall on cam sensors based on Tojo's response. Anyone else know about this recall?
 
#12 ·
fl0950 said:
I'm taking my 2010 in for its 600 mi service, and replacing the fuel strip. I'll report the outcome when I pick up the bike next weekend. I guess I should also check about the recall on cam sensors based on Tojo's response. Anyone else know about this recall?
My 2010 needed to have the recall work done (it was done at the 600 mile service a few weeks ago). The BMW computer system should have a record of the work, and they put some kind of mark somewhere inside a valve cover (on the head) if it's been done. I took my RT in for service to a different dealer than where I bought it from. When they didn't find the recall repair record in the computer, they figured maybe it just wasn't in the system yet. Then they pulled the covers and...nope...it hadn't been done. It doesn't take long to have it done (under an hour I think). Some dealers have been doing all of the 2010s pre-sale, but others seem to be waiting until the first service to do it (?)
 
#16 ·
I topped off the gas tank before sleep last night. Surprisingly, when I fired up the engine the next morning I confronted the empty gas gauge and the discomfort of cruising with a yellow warning icon. At least I know what the problem is after reading all the helpful notes on here. Gas strip failed at 12,000 miles...Until its fixed, I'm popping the lid and sticking my nose in the tank more than I like.
 
#17 ·
I have 2010 BMW R1200RT. My fuel strip has failed 2x already. First time at 1800 miles. Replaced by dealer. Then failed again at 2000 miles (didn't even get a chance to burn through one full tank of gas). One of the service reps says the cause is E10 fuel.

I'm getting it replaced for the second time next week. This is a PITA.
 
#18 ·
Fuel gauge on my 2010 RT with 2900 miles quit this morning with 3 gal. of gas left in the tank. Now have a flashing fuel pump symbol and a yellow triangle. Will be on the phone with the local dealer tomorrow morning. I'm not happy. Saved for a long time and didn't anticipate quality issues this soon on a $20K bike. Even with a warranty I won't tolerate multiple failures of the fuel strip like some previous owners have experienced. Replacing a bad part with a bad part is not acceptable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one.
 
#19 ·
I'll be having the third replacement sensor installed on the bike since it was delivered in December of 2010. The first didn't make it through the winter just when it was just sitting in the garage. As long as I have something decent to read and some available time I'm going to continue to have them replaced at BMWs expense as some kind of protest. The dealer should be reimbursed by BMW, so I don't feel too guilty.

It wouldn't be much of a problem except for the flashing idiot light and that you can't be very precise in when to start looking for a place to fill-up. At least back in the olden days you'd get a heads-up when the bike would start to stall-out you'd flip the petcock valve to "Reserve" and you'd know it was time to stop.

Good luck to us all that BMW comes through with a long-term fix.
 
#20 ·
The fuel level sensor issue has been around since the first R1200s hit the market.

Does anyone know of a single person that was required to pay for the replacement out of their pocket?

Once the replacement is done, that replacement is covered for two years - regardless of factory warranty.
 
#21 ·
You would think this constant replacement would get old for the factory. I asked yesterday if BMW was thinking about retrofitting the float system that is now being installed in some new bikes. The word I got from the shop supervisor was "they" were not willing to do the work on the software needed for this. We will see. It obviously could be done if there was incentive. Seems one software engineer and a week or so could solve this. :confused:
 
#22 ·
Electrics/electronics is and has always been the weak spot of the German automotive industry- all brands and all times, cars and bikes. Most of the current stuff is a combo of crappy design and bad outsourcing practices. In the past it was mostly cheap design. Germans are good at metallurgy and working metal, not so much at some other things.

If you want electrical stuff that works buy Japanese. Otherwise get used to dealing with the foibles of German stuff - it ain't gonna change in your lifetime even if they do retro the fuel strip- it will just be something else next. (like an fpc, sidestand switch, stick coil, EWS.....)

At least the warranties are decent. Spouse's Mercedes ate over $10K in electronic parts alone under warranty and that's probably not a record. When after about 2 years the cause was finally diagnosed it turned out to be a badly made equivalent of your bike's ZFE that was sporadically frying anything hooked to it. (2 full sets of 9 A/C stepper motors, multiple dash panels, etc etc). I've got an older AMG from the peak of Merecdes quality (mid 90s) but much prefer my even older Lexus SC300. Nothing ever breaks on it and it won't be long before its elegible for an antique plate.
 
#23 ·
beech said:
You would think this constant replacement would get old for the factory. I asked yesterday if BMW was thinking about retrofitting the float system that is now being installed in some new bikes. The word I got from the shop supervisor was "they" were not willing to do the work on the software needed for this. We will see. It obviously could be done if there was incentive. Seems one software engineer and a week or so could solve this. :confused:
Really sad that after 5 years, BMW still can't get it right. Permanently. :mad:
 
#24 ·
I will be on my fourth fuel sensor (third one inoperative, still in the bike, awaiting service next week) at 14k miles. I spoke with Max BMW in NH two weeks ago; they claim they have never replaced more than two sensors (the original plus a new one) in any one bike and believe calibration is critical (that makes no sense to me at all). If anyone can explain to me what the calibration procedure is, I'd be grateful.
 
#25 ·
99chromehead said:
{snip}...One of the service reps says the cause is E10 fuel...{snip}
IIRC, that explanation has been thoroughly debunked since the fuel strip failure is reported from countries where E10 fuel is not available.
 
#26 ·
As a new member to the fuel gauge problem club. 2009 RT 18,000 miles. I agree with others and BMW should have this figured out. I learned one valuable lesson from this experience and with a bone dry tank (and it was dry, don't ask how I know :-( . it took 6.6 gallons to fill it to the bottom of the neck on the center stand. My parents always told me to look for the good in any bad circumstance, so with that I know how much fuel the tank holds.
 
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